Mayfield Messenger - 2018-04-27

Mr David Jeapes - Headteacher

During this exciting time of change and expansion at Mayfield, we are now looking to recruit parents of the school to join our Governing Body. To be a Governor, you must be aged over 18 and be in a position to visit the school from time to time during the school day and regularly attend after school meetings, typically 4 or 5 evenings per half term. If you are interested in finding out more, please email Mrs Pat Janiec, Clerk to the Governing Body on pat.janiec@ntlworld.com or visit our website here or below in the News items.

We are in the process of finalising arrangements for the ‘Friends of Mayfield’ Summer Fete. If you work for a company which would like to provide services or prizes for the raffle or are interested in supporting this event in some other way – please email Mrs Judith Firth, Chair FOM on FirthJ@mayfield.portsmouth.sch.uk

A gentle reminder to all members of our community around safe parking – please avoid parking on double yellow lines or ‘zig zags’ during school hours. Thank you!

To help our families plan their time, we have produced an extract of the school calendar containing all of the keys dates for Summer 1.

*School closed to all pupils on Monday 7th May 2018*

Miss Louise Hillier - Head of Senior

In preparation for the forthcoming Mayfields each of Years 7 to 10 had an assembly with Mr Tite this week reminding them of the conduct for examinations. We treat all internal exams seriously and adhere to the exam board conduct expected for external GCSE exams- that way our pupils are fully ready when they get to the exams at the end of Year 11. A copy of the exam timetable for all years and a copy of the exam regulations can be found here. Revision suggestions and materials are signposted on our website here.

Next week brings four Portsmouth Cup Finals for Mayfield! On Tuesday 1st May at Moneyfields, our Year 8 team play at 5pm and our Year 10 team play at 6:30pm. Then on Thursday 3rd May, again at Moneyfields, our Year 9 team play at 5pm and our Year 11 team play at 6:30pm. I know all the pupils would be very grateful for any and all support so if you are able to come and help cheer us to victory you would be very welcome. Entrance is £5 for adults and £2 for children on the gate.

The whole of Year 9 have their MenACWY injections next week as part of the routine adolescent schools’ vaccination programme. If you have any questions regarding this then please contact Mrs Rowntree on Rowntree@mayfield.portsmouth.sch.uk

Year 11 are working steadily towards their final GCSEs and our art students have produced some fabulous work in their art exam this week. Period 0 and 6 is running for selected students and you will receive details of weekend and half-term revision in the next couple of weeks. If you have any questions about the exams or any worries about your child in the last few months, please do contact their Head of House to discuss these in the first instance.

Years 7 and 8 have their Summer 1 Prep projects to complete and should be working on these at home alongside their revision. Details of the projects can be found here and a list of tutors, to whom you can direct any questions regarding Prep, can be found here.

Finally, can I draw your attention to the fact that we do not allow extreme haircuts in school. Fashions change over time and the current fashion amongst our boys is for very short hair at the sides and longer on top. The short section should NOT be shorter than a grade 2 and there should be NO shaved lines/circles etc in hair. Thank you for your co-operation with this.

Mr Matt Stedman - Head of Primary

We have had a very ‘resourceful’ week in the Primary section with all year groups working tremendously hard towards their end of year learning goals. The Key Stage 1 SATs for Year 2 are scheduled to take place in the week beginning 14th May and we will be holding a short drop-in meeting for parents and carers to explain the arrangements for this week on Wednesday 9th May at 3.30pm and 4.30pm (this is a week later than the original date that was in the school calendar).

We are keen that the children do not feel additional pressure or anxiety about taking these tests and we will be treating the SATs week like any other working week. We are hoping that the children won’t even notice that they are taking their SATs, however, you may notice that your child is a bit more tired when they come home from school in that week.

The children looked very smart for the class photographs earlier on Monday – thank for your continued support with maintaining the highest standards with uniform. Following some parental queries, I am able to confirm that girls as well as boys are allowed to wear shorts as part of the summer uniform.

As we head into the warmer months, it is important that the children stay hydrated at school. Please can you make sure that your child has their water bottle in school in every day. With regard to sun protection, it is best to apply the daily sun cream before your child comes to school. If your child needs to top up on sun cream during the day, please can you send their sun cream into school in a marked bottle. We will keep this safe in school, but it will be your child’s responsibility to apply the cream during the day. Mayfield sunhats are also available from our uniform supplier Penelope Ann. Finally, can you make sure that all items of uniform are clearly marked with your child’s name.

We are looking forward to the Year 1 trip to Harold Hillier Gardens on Friday next week as part of our Gardener’s World topic. Please make sure that your child has the appropriate footwear for this trip. It should be a great day out!

Mrs I Edwards - Pre-School & Nursery

Our topic will continue with Spring. In class, we are looking at similarities, differences and change. Children will select their own seedling and choose a method of growing. They will then create a care plan using a variety of formats.

Learning intentions linked to our class topic:

Discuss the changes they have observed;

Can they talk about why they think changes have happened;

Discuss factors that could affect growth;

Measure growth - make comparisons.

Letters of the week ‘A’ and ‘B’. Keep creating your lovely collages as we use these in class to promote phonics. Words of the week in class are 'the' and 'an'.

As we are talking about planting and growth in class could I ask parents for voluntary contributions of plants and compost to support us with this topic.

News Items

Please be aware that we are in the process of recruiting new members to the Governing Body of Mayfield School. Governors play a key role in setting the strategic direction of the school and both support and challenge the leadership to ensure that Mayfield continues to improve. To find out more, email Mrs Pat Janiec on pat.janiec@ntlworld.com

Please note the criteria to be a governor:

A governor must be aged 18 or over at the time of their election or appointment. A registered pupil of the school cannot be a governor. A person cannot hold more than one governorship at the same school but can act as a governor at different schools.

A Person is disqualified from holding or from continuing to hold office as a governor or associate member if they:

have failed to attend meetings for six months;

are bankrupt;

are subject to a disqualification order or disqualification undertaking under companies legislation or an order concerning insolvency;

have been removed from the office of trustee for a charity on grounds of misconduct or mismanagement or from being concerned in the management or control of any body;

are included in the list of those considered by the Secretary of State as unsuitable to work with children;

are subject to a direction of the Secretary of State under section 142 of Education Act 2002;

are disqualified from working with children or from registration for child minding or providing day care;

have received a sentence of imprisonment (whether suspended or not) for a period of not less than three months (without the option of a fine) in the five years before becoming a governor or since becoming a governor;

have received a prison sentence of 2.5 years or more in the 20 years before becoming a governor;

have at any time received a prison sentence of five years or more;

have been fined for causing a nuisance or disturbance on school premises during the five years prior to or since appointment or election as a governor;